dabber Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) EVIDENCE SOUGHT ON GREEN LANES The CLA in the North is asking to hear from members with experience of vehicles, such as 4x4s and motorbikes, using green lanes as the Government sets up a new working group to look at the issue. The Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement (GLEAM), which is expected to be represented on this group, is seeking information about problems in as many areas of the country as possible to convince both the Government and potential allies on the group about the seriousness of the issue. If you have any examples of problems with green lanes, please email xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.org.uk and we will pass this on to GLEAM. Please send: · Digital photos (with dates) of problem green lanes showing the nature of the problem, e.g. damage, limited width, poor visibility etc. Please identify the green lane by providing grid references for its start and its end, and the name of the county, unitary or National Park authority where it is. Please also include the two grid letters (identifying the 100km grid square) found on the diagram on Ordnance Survey maps, and the name of the lane if it has one. The route should be one that has current or recent (within the past five years) problems with off-roading. Although if you have older photos to show what a currently damaged route looked like before it was damaged, these would be useful to compare with your current ones. · Identification of green lanes or areas where there used to be problems, but they have been resolved, and how they were resolved. For example, by police activity (including use of Section 59 Police Reform Act 2002), by traffic regulation order, by reclassification as Restricted Byways, or by NERC Act 2006. Please also let us know the nature of the resolved problem, the grid references of the lane or name of the area, and the local authority. DO NOT CONTACT THESE PEOPLE - SEE BELOW! Edited February 25, 2015 by andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboxer Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) Don't do it GLEAM and CLA are against legal offroad vehicle use on unsurfaced legal carriageways (Green Lanes, for want of a better word) The are seeking to exclude vehicular use and this will wreck Long Distance Trials, like the classic MCC Trials and the like They will also use the evidence against motorsport too, so Trials could be under threat Don't send them ANYTHING, it will be like Turkeys voting for XMAS , so you'll play right into their hands - they want pics of damage to lanes caused by bikes, so they can ask the Govt to shut them and destroy offroad motorcycling in the countryside TRF (TRAIL RIDERS FELLOWSHIP) are fighting GLEAM to uphold YOUR motorcycle rights in the countryside, support TRF and not GLEAM - who are against us Heed this warning Edited February 24, 2015 by johnnyboxer 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neils on wheels Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I'm with johnnyboxer here; the little I know about GLEAM suggests they are against all off road motor vehicle access. I'm assuming that most people that interact here are law abiding riders who support sanctioned events. The Catch 22 we face is that there is a population who do not abide by the law, consequently legislators, encouraged by lobby groups, create ever tighter access laws. The consequence of this is that those of us who choose to abide by the law are penalised, whilst those who choose to flout the law continue to do so, their actions unhindered. The paradigm needs to shift here, from one of increasingly tight legislation to one of policing the existing laws, with significant deterrents for transgression. I wish I knew a way to get this message through to our MPs and legislators. I tried, in relation to the Ridgeway, when I lived in Oxfordshire and Boris Johnson was my MP, his response was so facile it was depressing, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadof2 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 http://www.ydgla.co.uk/Latest_News.htm I suggest reading the above link as an example of what we (off road motorcyclists) are up against. Totally agree with Johnnyboxers post. I cannot remember the name of the consultants whom the labour government engaged prior to the Crow and Nerc acts. The conclusion of these consultants was that recreational motor vehicle use had very little or negligible negative impact on green roads. Agriculture and Forestry vehicles did far more damage. Yet the government and in particular Alun Michael (now fortunately dead) ignored the research. Properly regulated vehicle use is actually beneficial on green lanes, it keeps the open and free from excess vegetation and other obstructions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirdabalot Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I agree with johnnyboxer. Send evidence of damaged landscape from ramblers stomping about in their fascist jackboots. There's now unsightly man made footpaths over the Cheviot hills, put there at public expense, to stop them getting mud on their boots after they chewed the scenery up with thoughtless overuse. Grrr 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackm Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I read this post earlier today and must admit I was very surprised to see such a potentially damaging (for off road riding in general) post on a trials's site. Hopefully people reading the original post will realise that providing any "evidence" is actually playing into the hands of the many groups who want all off road motor sports banned whether private land or green lane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboxer Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I read this post earlier today and must admit I was very surprised to see such a potentially damaging (for off road riding in general) post on a trials's site. Hopefully people reading the original post will realise that providing any "evidence" is actually playing into the hands of the many groups who want all off road motor sports banned whether private land or green lane. Well said When I read it, I thought it was just a wind-up I thought a strong response was called for in post 2, just in case it wasn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabber Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 ...just flagging up what ifs being requested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboxer Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) ...just flagging up what ifs being requested. Why though? It's not in our interest, as Trials riders Who is to say any 'damage' isn't caused by the CLA member's tractor Any curtailment of legitimate motorcycle use and sport in the countryside, would hit us all hard It's difficult enough to persuade farmers to allow us onto their land, for Trials etc...............with Natural England breathing down their necks and DEFRA threatening to withold subsidy payments, if motorsport is allowed on their land Think about it, for a minute Trailriding, first and once that's forced off green lanes - then for sure, by God - Trials/Enduro and MotoX will be next CLA and GLEAM want NO MOTORSPORT or off road leisure vehicle use in the great British countryside..................mark my words Edited February 25, 2015 by johnnyboxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabber Posted March 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Lordy. I credited the TC massive with the brainpower to make an informed decision as to whether it may or may not be a good idea to respond. If we just bury our heads and just ignore stuff like that we may as well save time and take up wild flower collecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboxer Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Lordy. I credited the TC massive with the brainpower to make an informed decision as to whether it may or may not be a good idea to respond. If we just bury our heads and just ignore stuff like that we may as well save time and take up wild flower collecting. Frankly I don't think you'll have any supporters for that point of view, not really burying your head in the sand....................more collectively sticking together as motorcyclists who ride dirt bikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpyam Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 On the plus side from this post at least we're aware who these NIMBYs and kill-joys are now so can treat them accordingly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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